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Theme Issue on "Finding Home: Family & Connections" Now Available

September 12, 2017

The trope of rugged individualism is intimately knitted into the fabric of Americana. Dig a bit deeper, though, and this ideal is often revealed as a convenient fantasy to prop up the sense of self. The reality is that nearly everything we do is caught up in a tight web of connections that begins—and usually ends—with family.

With those words, editor-in-chief Danielle Ofri begins her foreword to BLR's latest issue, on the theme of "Finding Home: Family & Connections." The issue features essays by KJ Dell'Antonia, who describes her years reading family stories—both tragic and prosaic—submitted to the Motherlode blog of the New York Times, and Perri Klass, who explores the role reversals that doctors experience when they become a patient, or (worse!) the hovering family member of a patient. Many other talented authors fill the pages of the issue, including Ann Russell and Stephanie Wrobel, both of whom count this issue as their first story publication; Rachel Hadas, who contributes a book review: "What Good Will This Knowledge Do You? Four Poets on Illness"; and poets Ted Kooser, Thomas March, Jenny Qi, and Kelly DuMar, just to name a few.

The issue's striking cover art is by father and son Paul and John Paul Caponigro, with more of their beautiful work showcased inside the issue.